Certain Chapters is a short independent Tamil-Language film released in Singapore. The film was Abbas Akbar's first attempt at directing and casting himself in front of the camera.
Synopsis
Inspired by a series of true events the film unveils the truth as it is, recreating the unforgiving and wanton world of Indian gangsters in Singapore. The story revolves around Jegan, who suffers from an identity crisis, unconsciously wanting an image in the eyes of others. He acts upon the words of his mentor and gang leader ‘Hougang’ Veera who imports radical ideologies into him. Jegan’s ways lead him to destruction when he causes an innocent man’s death and bashes up a young school boy.
Censors rating
'Certain Chapters' was passed with a censors rating of R in Singapore. This was largely due to the strong depiction of violence and frequent use of explicit coarse language. R - Restricted to Persons 21 Years and above. Consumer Advisory - Gang Theme and Coarse Language..
Cast
Several members of the cast were previously involved with gang activities and determined to portray their characters as real as possible to deter other young boys from the path of gangsterism. The cast including director / lead actor Abbas Akbar consisted of 90% first-time actors. Following the release of the film, Abbas Akbar is concentrating on directing TV programmes and commercials for MediaCorpTV channels. Several members of the cast have gone on to take acting assignments with MediaCorp Vasantham TV productions.
Actor
Role
Abbas Akbar
Jegan
Elias Mikail
'Hougang' Veera
Chris Columbus
Kama
Haresh Sivagaram
Nandu
Vijayakumar
Pottu
Mayakrishnan
Thomas
Haresh
as 'Himself'
Music
The 'Certain Chapters' team wanted to create a short film that was both artistic and commercial. To do this the team incorporated soundtracks and background scores to the film so that it had elements similar to a regular feature film from India. The background score and original soundtracks were composed and arranged byShabir. The track 'Atthiyayam' is featured on the film's 30sec trailer and is available as a Bonus Track on Shabir's TraffiQ Album.
‘Certain Chapters’ has been building a buzz on the international circuit, having been selected for several film festivals. The film has also been screened upon invitation at several curated film programmes and used as reference material for academic learning at institutions. 'Certain Chapters' scored a nomination for 'Best Short Film' at the 5th Asian Festival of First Films.
Sinema Showoff Experimental Shorts Part II, Sinema Old School, Singapore – February/March 2009 Purnama 2 – A Screening of Short Films, Singapore – October 2009 5th Asian Festival of First Films, Singapore – December 2009. - Nominated for ‘Best Short Film’ – Abbas Akbar Singapore Short Film Awards, Singapore – January 2010 Chapman University Singapore - Academic - February 2010
USA
3rd New Jersey Independent South Asian Cinefest, USA – October 2009
